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Ashwin is on top at the moment: Muralitharan
Sydney : Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan on Tuesday rated India’s Ravichandran Ashwin as the best in the business among the current crop of off-spinners.
Muralitharan, who holds the world record of 800 Test wickets, said the Indian is on top at the moment while also hailing Austrlian Nathan Lyon, who he feels bowls in different conditions.
“Ashwin, I think, is on the top at the moment as the best current Test spinner,” Muralidaran was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia’s (CA) website.
“Lyon is a very good bowler, a very good off-spinner. He has proven himself in Test cricket and has taken a lot of wickets for Australia. He bowls in different conditions (in Australia) which are not much helpful for spin but on the turning wickets he has taken some wickets.”
The 44-year-old, who had worked with the Australians as a consultant bowling coach in 2014, said the Kangaroos start as favourites when they take on Sri Lanka in the three-match Test series later this month.
“Australia is favourite at the moment because they have played good cricket in the recent past. Sri Lanka on other hand is struggling a bit in all forms of the game so Australia will have an edge over Sri Lanka,” he said.
“They have a chance of winning the series because the Sri Lankan side is very inexperienced as lot of players retired recently and they are rebuilding the side so they won’t be strong enough.”
“Therefore, Australia I think will have a good chance of winning the series. If they use the conditions properly and play their spinners well they definitely have a chance.”
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.